MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota head coach
Dawn Plitzuweit announced that McKenna Johnson and Tori McKinney have signed their National Letters of Intent to join the Minnesota women's basketball program for the 2024-25 season.
This is an incredibly exciting day as we welcome two fantastic young ladies and their families into our Gopher Women's Basketball Program," Plitzuweit said. "Tori McKinney and McKenna Johnson are both outstanding students, both are ultra-competitive, and both are high-energy individuals who will be great fits for our program and for the University of Minnesota."
Victoria "Tori" McKinney | Guard | Minnetonka, Minnesota | Minnetonka High School
McKinney joins the Golden Gophers as an elite player, earning back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year laurels from Prep Girls Hoops during the 2022 and 2023 AAU season, which she played with North Tartan. In McKinney's most recent AAU campaign she averaged 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals. She took numerous charges throughout the EYBL circuit, including taking 10 charges during the Boo Williams Tournament. McKinney, a 6-1 guard, has played at the varsity level at Minnetonka since her seventh-grade year. McKinney, the daughter of Jennifer and Thomas McKinney, is an honor roll student with a weighted GPA of 4.271 and was a three-time All-Conference performer. McKinney's father, Thomas, was a track and field athlete at the University of Virginia from 1987-91 while her uncle, Anthony, played for the Minnesota Vikings and other NFL teams from 1997-99.
"By staying home, I already have a built-in fan base, so I am very excited to be surrounded and supported by my family and friends," McKinney said. "I am very excited to play under Coach Plitzuweit and the rest of her coaching staff. Throughout my phone calls and visits to the University of Minnesota, I can see the work ethic, dedication, and passion the coaches and players have. I am excited to join a family that wants to win and put forth effort to do so. Lastly, ever since I was young, I have wanted to compete in the best conference and playing in the Big 10, I will have a chance to play against and with the best of the best in women's basketball."
"Tori is a brilliant student with well over a 4.0 GPA and someone who is interested in the Carlson School of Business," Plitzuweit said. "On the court, Tori developed under Coach Brian Cosgriff at Minnetonka High School and by all the coaches in the North Tartan Program. She is an absolute winner and competed for an AAU National Championship during her career. In our style of play Tori will be an outstanding fit offensively as she shoots it well from the arc, she handles it, and she also gets to the rim to score or oftentimes kicks it out and creates shots for her teammates. Tori's versatility is not only outstanding on the offensive end of the court, but she is also a lockdown defender. She is a tremendous on-ball defender, while also being someone who helps her teammates at a high level, and our fans will see her taking charges all over the court. We are thrilled about Tori staying home and we are so happy to welcome her and the McKinney family to Gopher nation!"
McKenna "Kenna" Johnson | Guard | Wilmot, Wis. | Wilmot Union High School
An elite shooter out of the state of Wisconsin, Johnson brings a dynamic game to the Gophers as the No. 60 ranked recruit in the latest 2024 ESPN top 100 rankings. In her most recent season, the 5-9 guard averaged 26.1 points, 10 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.0 assists per contest. The Wilmot, Wis., native has played for the Wisconsin Flight Elite program, where she helped lead the program to the EYBL Final Four this past summer. At Wilmot Union, Johnson is a three-time All-Conference performer and was named to the All-State team after her junior season. She's been selected as the team's MVP for three consecutive years with her high school team winning the regional championship in 2021. Johnson, who is one of seven children, is the daughter of Amy and Scott Johnson.
"I chose the University of Minnesota because I connected well with Coach Plitzuweit and the entire coaching staff," Johnson said. "I really like the style of play that they bring, and I loved the campus, the beautiful facilities and the great academic programs that Minnesota offers."
"McKenna Johnson is a top-notch student and is someone who will excel here at the University of Minnesota in the classroom," Plitzuweit said. "McKenna has been mentored on the basketball court by Coach Keith Skrzynecki at Wilmot Union High School and by Coach Nic Levy on the AAU circuit this past year playing for the Wisconsin Flight Elite. She's a player who is versatile in how she scores the ball. She can shoot it from deep, she can get to the rim and she's incredibly comfortable in the midrange game as well. Her versatility as a combo guard, combined with her toughness, shows in that she averaged a double-double as a point guard in her junior season. She truly seems to have a nose for the ball and is someone who was always in the right spots in the games we watched this past spring and summer. We are incredibly excited about McKenna and the entire Johnson family joining our family here and we cannot wait to have McKenna with us in the Twin Cities!"
The Golden Gophers will host LIU in the season opener at Williams Arena on Wed., Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. Fans interested in buying season tickets for Gopher women's basketball this season can find more information at
https://z.umn.edu/24sznTixor by calling the Minnesota Ticket Sales Office by phone at 1-800-U-GOPHER or by email at
[email protected].
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